The husband and wife team were forced into diversifying their farming business after they were hit by the pig farming crisis in the late 1990s.

The couple's hard work started in 1999 when they transformed their pig fattening unit on a 300-acre arable farm in Hatfield into a green operation.

They registered with the Environment Agency to become compost producers and set about obtaining planning permission for a production facility.
The couple spent months slowly building up their customer base of waste management companies and local councils, and getting the business established.

But it became clear that if they were to really make a go of the business, they needed to apply for a full waste management licence which would enable them to increase production, market the compost and produce a wider range of products.

So they turned the venture into a limited company - Brier Hills Recycling - officially separating it from their other business, Huggin Farm, where they grow wheat, barley, sugar beet, potatoes and coppice willow.

In 2006 they received £207,000 from the Waste and Resources Action Programme, towards the cost of laying a new concrete pad to provide an open area for the compost to mature.

The grant also helped towards the cost of new equipment.

Since the couple received their full waste management licence early last year the site processing capacity has risen by 25,000 tonnes.

They are now processing 45,000 tonnes of organic, biodegradable waste from council kerbside collections and civic amenity sites within a 35-mile radius of Hatfield.

Mrs Mackintosh said the compost had enabled the couple to use less organic fertilisers on its land which had saved them money.

She added: "We had to diversify because we simply did not have enough land to make a living from farming.

"Moving into compost production has been hard work, but the profits have enabled us to expand our farming operations and create a viable business.

"We've reached a very exciting stage where we are now able to branch out into new markets and potentially expand our product range too."